Tag Archives: Orioles

10 May

ups and downs

Lot of good stuff happened on Tuesday: Zack Shannon was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Gulf South Conference Tournament after sparking Delta State to a 6-3 win over West Alabama in Cleveland for the program’s 14th conference tourney title. Shannon, a junior college transfer, belted a three-run home run – his 18th — in the third inning to get the ball rolling for DSU, which clinched a berth in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. … Atlanta prospect Ronald Acuna hit the first pitch he saw in Double-A out of the park en route to a 3-for-4, three-RBI night as the Mississippi Braves whipped Mobile 9-1 at Trustmark Park. Fellow 19-year-old Kolby Allard (3-1) got the win. … Seth Smith, the former Ole Miss star, went 2-for-4 with his third homer of the year to help Baltimore beat Washington 5-4 in 12 innings for its sixth straight victory. Mississippi State product Buck Showalter’s Orioles have MLB’s best record at 22-10. … Taylorsville High alum Billy Hamilton had two hits, two RBIs and a run as Cincinnati cooled off the New York Yankees 5-3. Hamilton has 15 hits, 14 runs, 10 RBIs and nine steals over his last 10 games while boosting his average some 40 points to .252. … Ex-State standout Tyler Moore was added to Miami’s big league roster, recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. Moore, who didn’t play Tuesday, was 4-for-11 in an earlier stint with the Marlins. … There were a couple of downers: Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz got lit up in Boston’s 11-7 loss at Milwaukee. He gave up six runs in four innings and fell to 3-2 with a 5.23 ERA on the season. … Ex-State star Hunter Renfroe took an 0-for-3 for San Diego in an 11-0 loss to Texas and saw his average drop to .200. He hasn’t homered since April 26, a span of 10 games. P.S. Nice feature on State slugger Brent Rooker posted today on Baseball America’s web site. The story suggests that Rooker, a 22-year-old senior, has played his way into consideration as a first-day pick in the MLB draft.

08 Apr

that’s the ticket

Jackson native Seth Smith’s first home run for Baltimore was one to remember. His two-run shot in the seventh inning at Camden Yards on Friday capped the Orioles’ rally from a four-run deficit and led to a 6-5 win over the New York Yankees. Smith, an Ole Miss alum, is 3-for-8 for his new team, the fifth he has played for in the majors. Baltimore traded for Smith to boost its on-base efficiency; his power could be a bonus. After being limited by a hamstring issue in spring training, the left-handed hitting Smith appears healthy now. “It’s just fun to be a part of a lineup like this,” he told the Baltimore Sun.

07 Mar

new faces, new places

It has been a quiet spring for Seth Smith. Too quiet. The Jackson native and ex-Ole Miss star is 0-for-9 in four games with his new club, the Baltimore Orioles. But with the team’s World Baseball Classic participants heading out, Smith is expected to play more regularly in the coming days. The O’s host the Dominican Republic team today in Sarasota, Fla. Believe it or not, Smith is 34 and entering his ninth full season in the big leagues. The lefty-hitting outfielder, a .261 career hitter with 113 homers, has gone from Colorado to Oakland to San Diego to Seattle to Baltimore, which traded for him in January. Smith is coming off a productive year: He hit 16 homers and drove in a career-high 63 runs for the Mariners. He batted just .249 but put up a .342 on-base percentage. Smith likely will platoon in right field for Buck Showalter’s O’s, who made the postseason in 2016. … Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland, who also changed teams this year, is also having a quiet spring. Now with American League East heavyweight Boston after seven years in Texas, Moreland is 2-for-11 in Grapefruit League play, with three RBIs. … Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi Community College alum, has been more impactful with his new club, Seattle. Dyson, who won a ring with Kansas City in 2015, is 6-for-17 (.353) with two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base for the M’s, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2001.

10 Jan

what’s happening

Louis Coleman is off the market, having signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati. The Greenwood native and ex-Pillow Academy star will contend for a bullpen job with the Reds in spring training. Coleman posted a 4.69 ERA in 61 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016 but was non-tendered last fall. The 30-year-old right-hander has a 3.51 career ERA in 213 MLB games, having begun his career with Kansas City. … Incidentally, the Reds are slated to have five Mississippians in spring camp: Zack Cozart (Ole Miss), Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville), Cody Reed (Northwest Mississippi Community College), Stuart Turner (Ole Miss) and Coleman. Turner was a Rule 5 pick from Minnesota. … Former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss standout Cody Satterwhite, who finished his 2016 campaign in Japan, signed as a minor leaguer with Baltimore. Satterwhite, 29, had a 1.80 ERA in 18 games in Triple-A for the Los Angeles Angels before going to Japan. A second-round pick by Detroit in 2008, he has also pitched in the New York Mets’ system but hasn’t made The Show in an injury-dampened career. … From the rumor mill: Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier might be staying in Minnesota; reports are the trade talks with the Los Angeles Dodgers have cooled. UM product Chris Coghlan, fresh off winning the World Series, may be on Philadelphia’s radar; the Phillies are seeking a left-handed bat. … Toronto prospect Anthony Alford, Mr. Baseball and Mr. Football his senior year at Petal High, lost many of his trophies and other memorabilia in a Dec. 28 fire that destroyed his childhood home in Columbia. No one was injured in the blaze, though Alford’s father, mother and sister, who lived in the home, reportedly lost most of their belongings. Alford now lives in Sumrall with his wife, Bailey. … Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum, the 2016 SEC freshman of the year, is ranked 29th in Baseball America’s list of the Top 100 college draft prospects for 2017. The Jackson Prep product, a switch-hitting outfielder who turns 21 in March, batted .408 last year.

06 Jan

head east

Seth Smith will wear another hat in 2017. If you’re counting, that’ll be his fifth in 11 years in the big leagues. The Ole Miss alum and Jackson native has been traded from Seattle to Baltimore for pitcher Yovani Gallardo. Smith, a lefty-hitting corner outfielder, is 34 and in the last year of a three-year contract. He batted .249 with 16 homers and 63 RBIs for the Mariners in 2016, his second year with that club. He has previously played for Colorado, Oakland and San Diego. Smith has been a serviceable player in his MLB career, with 113 homers and a .261 average, though he is limited because he doesn’t hit lefties. His bat should benefit from playing in Camden Yards and those other American League East parks. Plus, he gets to play for Buck Showalter.

08 Nov

on the ballot

It’s not the ballot people are talking about today, but, hey: Mississippi State alum Buck Showalter is a candidate for Manager of the Year in the American League. He is a finalist, along with Terry Francona and Jeff Banister, for the award given by the baseball writers. The winner will be announced next Tuesday. Showalter, who has won the award three times (including 2014), steered Baltimore to a wild card berth out of the hyper-competitive AL East, exceeding the expectations of virtually every preseason prediction. Showalter has been with Baltimore for seven seasons, longer than he stayed at any of his previous three managerial stops. With 547 wins, he trails only the legendary Earl Weaver on the Orioles’ list of winningest managers. Showalter hasn’t had a lot of playoff success, but in the current state of MLB, just getting in is a big deal. P.S. Former Southwest Mississippi Community College star Kade Scivicque is batting .346 (9-for-26) with three RBIs in the Arizona Fall League. Scivicque, acquired by Atlanta from Detroit late last season, finished 2016 with the Mississippi Braves and could be back with the Double-A club next spring. The 6-foot, 225-pound catcher batted .282 with six homers in high-A for the Tigers. … David Goforth, the Ole Miss alum from Meridian, is pitching for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. Goforth, who has made 30 MLB appearances with Milwaukee the past two years, had a 4.91 ERA in Triple-A in 2016.

11 Oct

gotta love october

Time to take stock on the MLB postseason. We’ve seen Baltimore go down in flames as Orioles manager Buck Showalter, the ex-Mississippi State standout, kept the best closer in the league in the bullpen with the American League Wild Card Game on the line. MSU product Mitch Moreland was in the middle of the play that ended the season for Texas, the team that had the best record in the AL. First baseman Moreland knocked down the errant throw by Rougned Odor, then threw home too late to stop the winning run from scoring as Toronto completed a stunning sweep. Moreland went 2-for-8 with two RBIs in what may have been his Texas swansong. Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz surrendered the pivotal home run (to Coco Crisp) on Monday in the other ALDS as Cleveland ended Boston’s season and David Ortiz’s career with a sweep. UM alum Mickey Callaway, the Indians’ pitching coach, saw his bullpen limit the Red Sox to two runs while fanning 14 in 10 1/3 innings over the three games. Former Rebels standout Chris Coghlan (0-for-2) has had a quiet National League Division Series for the Chicago Cubs, who saw their ace closer, Aroldis Chapman, cough up a lead Monday against San Francisco, which dodged a sweep by winning in 13 innings. Conor Gillaspie – the son of former MSU star Mark Gillaspie and the Giants’ Wild Card Game hero – delivered the big blow against Chapman, a two-run triple in the eighth inning. “He’s been fun to watch,” Giants ace Madison Bumgarner told the Chicago Tribune. It ain’t been fun for everyone, but that’s what makes October baseball so compelling.

04 Oct

all in

You can argue that the win-or-go-home wild card game isn’t fair – but it sure is fun to watch. Former Mississippi State star Buck Showalter, still seeking his first World Series appearance in his 18th season as an MLB manager, takes his Baltimore Orioles into Toronto’s rowdy Rogers Centre tonight with this one shot at moving on in the postseason. The Blue Jays, managed by former Jackson Mets star John Gibbons, were widely regarded as a favorite in the American League East heading into the season. Showalter’s O’s weren’t supposed to be here. Sports Illustrated in its preseason preview ranked Baltimore 14th in the 15-team league. But a power-hitting lineup and a great bullpen carried the club to an 89-73 record and into the playoffs for the third time in Showalter’s seven years at the Orioles helm. Showalter has won 52 percent of his games – over 1,400 all told — and three manager of the year awards. He’s a Hall of Fame candidate. But his resume is missing a ring. He’ll try to take a step in that direction tonight in an elimination game. Note, too, that there is a history of testiness in this rivalry. As a fan, what more can you ask for?

28 Sep

men at work

In a game that has Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Manny Machado and Adam Jones – to name a few star players – the matchup of managers is hardly a feature attraction. But let’s give Baltimore’s Buck Showalter and Toronto’s John Gibbons – hard-working skippers with Mississippi connections – their due as two of the game’s best. Their teams currently cling to the two wild card berths in the American League, the Blue Jays up 2 games on the Orioles after winning Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto 5-1. Gibbons, who starred for the Jackson Mets in 1983, is 642-611 in nine years as an MLB manager, all with Toronto. He is in the midst of his third straight winning season. Showalter, a Mississippi State All-American in 1977, is 1,425-1,314 in 18 years and is a three-time manager of the year. His O’s have been .500 or better in each of the last five years. And keep in mind that both clubs play in the AL’s Big Boy Division – the East. Tonight’s game features a good pitching matchup – Chris Tillman for Baltimore against Francisco Liriano of the Jays – but considering the power bats both teams possess and Rogers Centre’s rep as a launching pad, a laser show wouldn’t be a shock. And tempers might flare, too, with both managers known to run a little hot.

02 Jul

timing is everything

If you’re going to watch Seth Smith play, you should catch him at home, at Seattle’s Safeco Field, and against a right-hander, which he faces almost exclusively. And catch him when he’s hot, of course, like now. The former Ole Miss standout from Jackson homered for the second straight game on Friday as the Mariners beat American League East leader Baltimore for the second straight time at Safeco. The lefty-swinging Smith is batting .362 over his last 15 games and has six hits in his last three games. For the year, he is at .272 with eight homers and 30 RBIs. At home, he is hitting .298 with six homers, and against right-handers, he’s batting .284 with all eight of his homers and 27 of the RBIs. The Mariners face Buck Showalter’s Orioles again tonight at Safeco, and Baltimore’s scheduled starter is right-hander Tyler Wilson. Seattle is 41-39, battling to keep AL West leader Texas in its sights. The M’s trail the Rangers by 10½ games. P.S. East Central Community College product Tim Anderson got some love on MLB Network’s Quick Pitch show today for drawing the first walk of his big league career on Thursday. It came in his 86th plate appearance for the Chicago White Sox. Anderson did not walk in Friday’s game – or get a hit – but the rookie leadoff man is batting .300 with three homers, 14 runs, five RBIs and a couple of steals while also playing some sharp shortstop over 20 games. The White Sox apparently are pleased. “He’s quiet, but there’s a confidence and a drive,” ChiSox manager Robin Ventura told CBSChicago.com.